[AmiableBaller34Participant]

 A few years ago the Wizards were the laughing stock of the NBA, regularly making the Not Top 10 Plays, and under the scrutiny of the basketball community. To rid themselves of this terrible self image, they shipped out almost all of the young "bone-headed" players who made them such a bad team. A few years later, looking at all those knuckle-head players, it’s interesting to see them all become productive players for their repective teams. 

Nick Young is the leading scorer on the Lakers, scoring 15.6 ppg with a 16 PER. He’s still a ball dominant scorer, but he’s been one of the bright spots for the Lakers this year, and tonight seemed to be the only one who had it going. The fans also like to watch him play in LA. 

Jordan Crawford was stigmatized as a shoot first shoot second player, and anyone who’s read a thread here that has to do with the Boston Celtics has probably seen my love for the player Crawford has become, and the stats to go with it. Again though, he’s averaging 14/5 with a 17.4 PER.

Andray Blatche has really turned things around in Brooklyn, putting up 12/6 in 20 minutes off the bench, and supporting a 18.7 PER. He’s still not the best defender, but he’s 100x the player he was in Washington. 

Javale McGee, while not putting up great stats, doesn’t make the bone-headed plays he used to make with regularity in Washington, and was a servicable player on that Dever Nuggets playoff team. 

John Wall, while not traded, is finally getting the respect he deserves, and will most likely be an All-Star this year, or atleast will get strong consideration. 

I bring these guys up because I think it goes to show people how important it is to build a winning culture and mentality, and that when a player is put in a position to succeed, they will more often than not.

I look at what is going on in Sacramento and Brooklyn, and hear a lot of people talk of teams tanking, and it just makes me sick. Leadership starts at the top, and trickles its way down, and a players career can change dramaticly depending on where they end up playing. I think it’s interesting to look at cases like the Wizards’ because it’s a good representation of how a team could have some nice pieces to make it work, but they just don’t have it upstairs (mentally or organizationaly) to put it together. 

[HitsterParticipant]

 The Wizards have become a much more cohesive team after shifting out the knuckleheads, drafting some nice prospects and adding a few solid senior pros. I can recall that John Wall said he appreciated having Nene on the team as he is a decent ball player for a big man and had a good basketball IQ and Wall noticed the difference having had McGee in situ previously.

Plus to be fair to the guys who were moved on, they have knuckled down and in a different situation they are less of a liability and have to take responsibility for themselves. Being in a locker rooms with other "loose cannons" is different to being in a locker room with solid pros who expect 100% and playing under different coaches sometimes is a big thing.

 

[HitsterParticipant]

 The Wizards have become a much more cohesive team after shifting out the knuckleheads, drafting some nice prospects and adding a few solid senior pros. I can recall that John Wall said he appreciated having Nene on the team as he is a decent ball player for a big man and had a good basketball IQ and Wall noticed the difference having had McGee in situ previously.

Plus to be fair to the guys who were moved on, they have knuckled down and in a different situation they are less of a liability and have to take responsibility for themselves. Being in a locker rooms with other "loose cannons" is different to being in a locker room with solid pros who expect 100% and playing under different coaches sometimes is a big thing.

 

[Author]

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